Oh Silksong, my beloved. Oh Deepnest, my behated. I meant to post this on February 14 for Valentine’s Day, but clearly I procrastinated for far too long. Still, I did too much math to let it all go to waste now! Just add another 14 days all the dates to account for this post on February 28.
97% out of 112%
Charms, map, and journal stats are included. I finished only one ending for now, and there are a few more things like the Kingsoul charm and the journal that I want to complete before Hollow Knight Silksong comes out, but I may not get to it since I’ve completely lost my battle flow (it’s been too long since I’ve picked it up). Maybe I’ll try to finish every single quest too– jk absolutely not.
2019, January 11
Hollow Knight by Team Cherry is a Metroidvania type game where the player explores the deep underground, meeting other characters who are trying to survive a harsh and lonely world and uncovering the history of Hollownest. Though the player is voiceless, literally a little knight, the personality in all of the other characters make the game extremely easy to connect with. The world, the music, the deep lore that must be pieced together through gameplay alone— I still remember the strong impact that it had on me when I played for the first time.
I only made it through to the first ending, but I know of the other ones. Without saying any spoilers for my readers, there are a total of three endings that you can reach depending on pre-requisites that you’ve cleared before defeating the final boss. All three were… admittedly emotional because of my connection with the story. Even without dialogue, I felt devastated by the fate of the three vessels.
In regards to the gameplay, as someone who has poor reaction time on video games, I screamed and clawed my way through the labyrinth. My need for story was far greater than my fear of combat though. Even worse, my need for completing all the collectables was far greater than my survivability.
I mainly used charms that allowed for defensive and passive damage to enemies. My most used ones for exploration were: Wayward Compass and Gathering Swarm. I equipped defensive or stat boosting ones for areas with more enemies and for areas that I had already completed like: Stalwart shell, Grubsong, Steady Body, and Baldur Shell.
A combination that I used a lot for “combat” was: Thorns of Agony, Baldur Shell, Glowing Womb, Spore Shroom, Weaversong, and Dreamshield. Seasoned players will realize that the combination of charms will allow me to hide in a shell while expelling environmental hazards for mobs, becoming damaged by the Dreamshield if they get too close to me. Mobile little helpers like the hatchlings and weaverlings will go after the enemies while I simply dodged attacks that came my way.
I’m sad to say that I was not skilled enough to get the completed Kingsoul and Void Heart.
What I DID complete was mapping out the entirety of Hollownest! Though I didn’t take a shot of it completely zoomed in, you’re going to have to trust me, bro.
While I was playing through the game, I admittedly was too afraid of the hunter to get any closer. It was only after I was about 60% done with everything else that my best friend told me to go get the journal. Our conversation went a little something like this:
Me: What do you mean I can record enemies??
Her: Did you not get the journal?
Me: Where?
Her: From the hunter
Me: What’s a hunter?
Her: … it was in the beginning
Me: Where in the beginning??
Her: The large bush-
Me: THE SCARY ONE?
Her: … go
Since I didn’t know that the enemies had names, of course I took it upon myself to nickname them myself. For example, we had one named joltik, stinky boi, bush baby, and the muu muus.
Overall, it was a wonderful game, one that I wish I could play again for the first time. It was truly an incredible experience and no doubt will the next installment be just as masterfully crafted as this one! Silksong… please…
Finished as of January 11, 2019.
As of February 14, 2024, it’s been 1826 days since Silksong was announced. 612 days since Silksong was announced for Day One XBox Game Pass. 280 days since Silksong was delayed.
Diving in the Deep 